


i don’t know what the fuck true love even is but i do want to hang out with you for basically the rest of my life

by thecanary



Series: A Softer DeadPoetsSociety [4]
Category: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Kiss, In Love, M/M, theyre so happy and this is the life they deserve quite frankly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 08:53:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16678480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecanary/pseuds/thecanary
Summary: (let’s hang out - TO THE DEATH)they meet at an arts event, exchange numbers, and from there we know what's going to happen, but we read on anyway.





	i don’t know what the fuck true love even is but i do want to hang out with you for basically the rest of my life

Todd and Neil met at a creative arts competition, their different schools both competing, different fathers begrudgingly having signed permission slips. Neil was an actor, much to his father’s chagrin, though once Mr. Perry realised that having a renowned actor for a son could count for something he calmed down a little, as long as Neil kept his grades up. Todd was just trying to find his passion, which he was doing in part in the written word. Either way, it was luck that had them meet and they wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Neil >> Todd  
hey i don't want to pester you by texting too much but who am i kidding, it's gonna happen  
like, feel free to tell me to stop  
but i don't think you will

Todd>>Neil  
Youre right. I do want you to keep texting  
And dont think I wont text back

Neil>>Todd  
that's the idea, hey

Todd>>Neil  
Thank g-d  
Here I was worried Id be sending sad unreplied to texts for the rest of my life

Neil>>Todd  
as if  
hell, i wanna talk with you so bad that if we were back before phones, i'd write weekly letters just to keep in touch

Todd>>Neil  
I guess that means that you really are committed

And so on. The two of them exchanging texts for more hours in a day than not, keeping in touch with each other and keeping each other in the loop. It was junior year when they'd met, so the looming presence of college applications, college acceptances, the importance of grades, it was all real for them. But having each other, that was a break from reality. 

Neil would message Todd between assignments he couldn’t afford to fail and homework he could hardly bring himself to do, and Todd would reply, procrastinating the presentations that the school still forced him to do. Even though they were at different schools, far away from each other, they felt so close that sending a message to each other felt like coming home. 

Todd>>Neil  
Well fuck. Failed a math test

Neil>>Todd  
i’m sorry <3 <3 math sucks anyway  
you’re a man of words anyway

Todd>>Neil  
Not sure if thats a good excuse to give to my teachers  
Or my parents

Neil>>Todd  
if your parents are anything like mine, no excuse would matter anyway

Todd>>Neil  
Well, youre not wrong there

Neil>>Todd  
i avoid being wrong at all costs. it makes people talk

Todd>>Neil  
You really out here just saying the first thing that comes to mind

Neil>>Todd  
as long as it sounds appropriately dramatic

Todd>>Neil  
Dont think you ever have to worry on that front

Neil>>Todd  
well that’s a relief if i’ve ever had one

Todd was soon distracted from his failed math test, and his grades in other classes - humanities mainly - more than made up for it. It wasn’t as though Todd truly minded; sure, he lived his life to impress his teachers, to do right by his dad, but when it came down to it, Todd would be content living a life consisting of poetry and talking to Neil. 

It was a while before they saw each other again, the last holidays before graduation gave them a chance to fake some need to meet up, selling convincing lies to their parents combined with their grades being okay enough to allow for a trip into the city - Neil’s boarding school was on the outskirts of it, and Todd’s was on the other side, making the city a central place to visit for both of them. 

Neil saw Todd from what felt like a mile away, and it took everything he had to not run across the park they’d agreed to meet in. Neil wasn’t a runner, and he certainly didn’t want to draw attention to the two of them - he wanted this to be special, to be able to pretend there was no one else in the world except for him and Todd. Todd saw Neil too, a grin breaking out onto his face as soon as he made eye contact with the other boy - the smile was mirrored by Neil. 

“You’re here!” Neil exclaimed, as soon as they were close enough such that him doing so wouldn’t be yelling.  
“I’m here, I’m here,” Todd nodded. “It’s.. I mean, seeing you… I, I’m really happy.”

Neil nodded, pulling Todd into an embrace that came naturally to both of them. Although they hadn’t seen each other physically since they first met, they’d spent more than enough time talking that it felt natural, not to mention Neil promising that he’d hug Todd the next time they met in person, no two ways about it. 

It occurred to them simultaneously that they didn’t know what they were to each other. Anything below ‘best friends’ felt dismissive, ‘best friends’ itself sounded a bit childish. ‘Soulmates’ had a romantic connotation that meant they’d need to talk about it. It wasn’t a lie though. 

Once they pulled away from the hug, smiles still not faded from their faces, Todd gestured to a bench near them, taking Neil by the wrist to sit down beside him. 

“It’s so good to see, in person,” Todd said.  
“It is. I mean, I knew I was going to see you again, how could I not? But it’s good for it to be real.”

Neil kept smiling and nodding as he spoke, as if this was all he wanted out of life. 

“But Todd, I need to tell you something,” he hesitated, and Todd’s eyebrows furrowed, worried for what Neil was going to say next. “It’s, I mean, I don’t know how it should feel or how I should act. But I care about you a lot. I think I might love you.”

The words Todd was hoping for but not expecting. 

“I think I love you too,” Todd echoed.  
“I think I want to kiss you.”  
“That’d be good.”

And they kissed. Another pair of teenagers in love on a park bench in a city that no one thought twice of. No one paid them any attention, and it was okay because they only needed attention from each other. 

“Let’s keep it like this forever,” Todd said. “Just us.”  
Neil nodded in agreement. “Forever.”


End file.
